- What does igaster/laravel-theme do in a Laravel application?
- It is a presentation-layer package that adds multi-theme support to Laravel by hooking the view finder and asset resolution so views, assets, config, and translations can resolve from a selected theme. It supports theme inheritance and falls back to default views, which makes it useful for white-label or multi-tenant branding in server-rendered Blade apps.
- How do I install and configure igaster/laravel-theme?
- Install it with Composer; package auto-discovery registers the service provider. Publish the config, define your theme directories, and move views into the theme structure. A competent Laravel developer can complete a basic spike in under a day, but migrating existing views and revalidating assets is the real effort.
- Which Laravel and PHP versions does igaster/laravel-theme support?
- The v2.0.24 release contains fixes for @js/@css directive conflicts on Laravel 9+ and PHP 8.2 deprecation cleanup, so pin to ^2.0.24 or later. The release notes do not explicitly confirm Laravel 10 or 11 support, or PHP 8.3/8.4, so test the exact Laravel and PHP versions you run in production before adopting it.
- Can I switch themes at runtime per request, tenant, or user?
- Yes. You can select the active theme at runtime through the package API and config, which supports per-tenant, per-brand, or per-request switching. Validate switching with cached views enabled, because view resolution and cache behavior are the critical paths.
- How are theme assets, views, config, and translations organized?
- The package organizes theme files into per-theme directories for views, assets, config, and translations, with fallback to the default theme when a themed file is missing. Asset publishing and per-theme namespacing let you keep brand-specific CSS and JavaScript separate. Plan cache-busting and asset pipeline validation before rolling out multiple themes.
- Will igaster/laravel-theme conflict with @vite, @js, @css, or other Blade directives?
- v2.0.24 fixes conflicts with the @js and @css Blade directives on Laravel 9+, but the notes do not say whether that fix was validated with @vite. Exercise @js, @css, @vite, theme switching, and cached views in a branch spike. Also verify no other installed package extends the view finder or registers conflicting Blade directives.
- Can I use igaster/laravel-theme for multi-tenant or white-label branding?
- It fits multi-tenant and white-label branding when your app is server-rendered Blade and theming is strictly a rendering concern. Keep theme conditionals out of domain and business logic, or the abstraction becomes expensive to unwind. Use it for a genuine multi-brand requirement, not single-theme apps where indirection costs more than it saves.
- Is igaster/laravel-theme a good fit for Inertia, SPA, Livewire, or API-only apps?
- It is a poor fit for API-only services, Inertia/SPA apps, and Livewire-heavy apps where the view finder is not the real theming seam. In those architectures, theme through frontend design tokens, component props, or a dedicated UI layer instead.
- How should I migrate existing Laravel views to themes without breaking the app?
- Use a strangler pattern: keep your existing resources/views as the default theme so un-migrated views still resolve, add one additional theme, and migrate a bounded slice such as the layout plus one module. Verify rendering parity before expanding. If replacing a homegrown switcher, map its resolution order onto the package inheritance rules first.
- What are the maintenance risks of using igaster/laravel-theme in production?
- The main risk is maintenance velocity: this is a single-maintainer package with sporadic releases, and v2.0.24 fixed long-standing Laravel 9+ and PHP 8.2 issues rather than tracking the framework closely. Security exposure is low because it does not handle user input or persistence, but you should pin ^2.0.24, record the support risk explicitly, and check CI evidence for your Laravel and PHP versions.